Aligning Hex Grids

**7H3LaughingMan** · October 17th, 2016, 21:52

I am having issues trying to align a Hex Map that I made in Hexographer with the Fantasy Grounds Hex Grid. I have been messing around with the Hex Width & Hex Height in Hexographer to try and hone in the exact ratio needed. So far I found out that any multiple of 42 Pixels for the Hex Height will allow the top/bottom of the Hex to align properly in Fantasy Grounds. I have been messing with the Hex Width and it is always off by some small amount and on a bigger map it will get way off on the left/right sides of the Hex.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to the Hex Width / Height Ratio Fantasy Grounds uses and what would be the best way to get these to align properly.

**damned** · October 18th, 2016, 09:45

Hi 7H3LaughingMan your best bet is probably to leave the grid off your output map. You could put a single hex in one corner as a size guide.

**Nylanfs** · October 18th, 2016, 12:06

With hexographer I don't think that is an option.

**Zacchaeus** · October 18th, 2016, 12:54

I've never used hex grids but the square one is usually drawn at 50px a side. When you draw a hex grid you can also draw it to 50px but I don't know what that measurement represents.

The key to getting a grid to fit is that the map needs to be exported from the drawing package at the right size. So if you draw your map at a scale of 5' equals 50px and then export it at a resolution which is a multiple of 50 then you should in theory get the grids to line up. So if your map is 120'x80' you'll want to export it at say 600x400 or 1200x800. You would then (again in theory) be able to draw a 50 or 100px grid on your map in FG. But as I say I have no experience with grids so all of the above could be nonsense.

**7H3LaughingMan** · October 18th, 2016, 14:28

Originally Posted by damned

Hi 7H3LaughingMan your best bet is probably to leave the grid off your output map. You could put a single hex in one corner as a size guide.

I could remove the grid that is put on the image of my map, but that wouldn't really help since the map itself is hexagonal. I could just not have the grid in Fantasy Grounds and go off the map but that feels like it would defeat the purpose.

Originally Posted by Zacchaeus

I've never used hex grids but the square one is usually drawn at 50px a side. When you draw a hex grid you can also draw it to 50px but I don't know what that measurement represents.

The key to getting a grid to fit is that the map needs to be exported from the drawing package at the right size. So if you draw your map at a scale of 5' equals 50px and then export it at a resolution which is a multiple of 50 then you should in theory get the grids to line up. So if your map is 120'x80' you'll want to export it at say 600x400 or 1200x800. You would then (again in theory) be able to draw a 50 or 100px grid on your map in FG. But as I say I have no experience with grids so all of the above could be nonsense.

I understand what you are trying to say, but I feel like the main issue is that I don't know the dimensions of a hex according to Fantasy Grounds. I feel like the hexes aren't 100% perfect and are a bit wider than they should be and if that is a case then it would be a bug. I would have to do some testing before I am sure. But in the mean time I am going to include an image of the map in question to see if someone notices something wrong.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7231478/Island.png

**damned** · October 18th, 2016, 14:33

It may well be that the FG hex angles are not the same as hexographers....

**Zacchaeus** · October 18th, 2016, 15:12

Yep, too much maths for me. A regular Hex's internal angles should all be 120 degrees and clearly that's not the case in your image. You are going to have to work out what your map size needs to be in order to export it in such a way that all your hexes are regular hexes. I played about a bit and can get one hex to exactly fit an FG hex of 50px but then the drift is ridiculous.

**7H3LaughingMan** · October 18th, 2016, 15:52

Originally Posted by Zacchaeus

Yep, too much maths for me. A regular Hex's internal angles should all be 120 degrees and clearly that's not the case in your image. You are going to have to work out what your map size needs to be in order to export it in such a way that all your hexes are regular hexes. I played about a bit and can get one hex to exactly fit an FG hex of 50px but then the drift is ridiculous.

I pulled up the image in GIMP and measured the internal angles. All over them are 120° and when I measure the length of each side they are the same. I even went and exported a bigger image from Hexographer to make it easier to measure the angles and the lengths.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...e%20Island.png

**Zacchaeus** · October 18th, 2016, 16:23

Alright your big image is many times better than the last one you posted. I can get the grid to align pretty well if you adjust it slightly to 3200x3050 and draw a grid of about 146-147px size hex on it in FG.

**Trenloe** · October 18th, 2016, 16:42

Yeah, the vertical-to-horizontal ratio in FG is different to that on the map. All I can suggest is that you align it correctly vertically and then use the grid nudge controls to move it horizontally to make as good as match as possible. Then, if you're zooming in on a particular part of the map, do a little bit of nudging to make that part look as good as you can. Not ideal I know.

Or, do a quick resize of the map in your favourite graphics app - as Zacchaeus suggests above. Probably the best solution at present.

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